The 2010 Mac mini is a powerhouse!

[bsamcash]

It amazes me. I just put 8 GB of RAM in my low end Mac mini I bought last year to be a home server, and it is fast! I enabled the 64 bit kernel, so that may have helped.

This is incredible! Just a few years ago, I could only dream about performance like this at such a low price!

That's all. I just felt it was time for a positive thread.

 

[TantalizedMind]

Good to hear you are lovin' your Mini again. I have 4GB in mine and its damn quick. What's the 64 bit kernel you are talking about?

 

[-Ken-]

When you have 4 gb or more of RAM, you need 64-bit processors and programs to take advantage of the memory.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I have the early 2009 mini (2.0GHz with the 9400M), and have a nice, speedy 7200RPM HDD in it, as well as 8GB of RAM. I'm constantly impressed with the performance I get out of a two-year-old machine that I've only spent around $675 ($550 for the mini, $50 for the new HDD, $75 for RAM) on in total. The mini gives a lot more bang for the buck that a lot of people seem to realize. I'm a developer, so I generally push my machines to their limits, and assuming that it doesn't die, I don't see why I can't get another two years minimum out of this machine.

 

[bsamcash]

Good to hear you are lovin' your Mini again. I have 4GB in mine and its damn quick. What's the 64 bit kernel you are talking about?

The Mac mini loads the 32 bit kernel by default. you can try out the 64 bit one by holding 6 + 4 during boot up, or you can type "sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture x86_64" in Terminal. But in all honesty, I don't think it really does anything. The kernel will never use more than 4 GB of RAM.

When you have 4 gb or more of RAM, you need 64-bit processors and programs to take advantage of the memory.

That's not true. Only 64 bit programs are needed if they intend to address more than 4 GB of RAM. 4 GB is perfectly useable on a entirely 32 bit UNIX or Linux system.

 

[bsamcash]

I have the early 2009 mini (2.0GHz with the 9400M), and have a nice, speedy 7200RPM HDD in it, as well as 8GB of RAM. I'm constantly impressed with the performance I get out of a two-year-old machine that I've only spent around $675 ($550 for the mini, $50 for the new HDD, $75 for RAM) on in total. The mini gives a lot more bang for the buck that a lot of people seem to realize. I'm a developer, so I generally push my machines to their limits, and assuming that it doesn't die, I don't see why I can't get another two years minimum out of this machine.

It's great to see another mini fan! Those little things are too often underestimated!

 

[chevman]

April 2009 mini here (2 ghz with 4GB ram), still going strong.

I upgraded from a 6 year old G4 800mhz iMac and let me tell you, it was a DRAMATIC improvement. I was pushing that machine to its limits.

I feel like I can easily get another couple years out of this mini, maybe more.

 

[zap2]

I do love the Mini, I have my old Core Duo at my desk even if it doesn't get much use(my Air is just so fast! And I bring it to class so everything is already on it)

I do like the old form factor a bit more...easier to get inside of and upgrade things outside of the RAM. My HDD died and I upgraded to a 320GB without issue. Also the CPU, but Apple took that ability long ago!

But still, I while look at the new Mac Mini when it comes out. While the Mini now might be fast, I really don't need new Mac yet, don't have the money and want to see what Apple outs in the new one. I want to have something at my desk with a little more horsepower for heavy lifting(like ripping DVDs)

 

[MultiFinder17]

It's great to see another mini fan! Those little things are too often underestimated!

That they are - I'd been using my trusty rusty G4 tower that I'd had for years as my desktop before I got the mini. It was long in the tooth a few years ago (Dual 500MHz!), so I was itching for a new desktop. I was worried about getting the mini, due to its lack of expansion. However, I had nowhere near enough for a Mac Pro, and the iMac is no more expandable than the mini. The moment I got it, I was in love. It has been a wonderful machine to me for more than two years now (I got it the day after the Nvidia minis were released, right when the local Apple Store got them in stock), and I hope that it will keep serving me as my main desktop for a good while to come. Even after it has stopped serving as my desktop, I'm sure that it will make a wonderful little server or something.

 

[btbrossard]

The 2010 mini is a pretty good machine. Too bad it's overlooked by most.

I work for a large company that uses macs and every workstation in my group has a 2010 mac mini as at least one of the computers at that workstation.

 

[mdgm]

But still, I while look at the new Mac Mini when it comes out. While the Mini now might be fast, I really don't need new Mac yet, don't have the money and want to see what Apple outs in the new one. I want to have something at my desk with a little more horsepower for heavy lifting(like ripping DVDs)

I'd be surprised if the new Mini had a faster DVD drive. The CPU is not the bottleneck for ripping DVDs. However if you wish to encode your rips (e.g. using Handbrake) then the CPU is important.

The 2010 mini is a pretty good machine. Too bad it's overlooked by most.

I work for a large company that uses macs and every workstation in my group has a 2010 mac mini as at least one of the computers at that workstation.

It's a good machine, however in terms of upgrading apart from RAM it's harder than the 09 Mini. For those with an 09 Mini there really isn't that much of a reason to upgrade to a 2010 Mini.

The 2011 Mini even if it has hard to upgrade the HDD etc. should be a worthwhile upgrade for 2009 Mini owners and probably some 2010 Mini owners as well.

 

[Wicked1]

It amazes me. I just put 8 GB of RAM in my low end Mac mini I bought last year to be a home server, and it is fast! I enabled the 64 bit kernel, so that may have helped.

This is incredible! Just a few years ago, I could only dream about performance like this at such a low price!

That's all. I just felt it was time for a positive thread.

I thought 64-Bit was native on the 2010 Mini since it supports 8GB Ram?

 

[b-rad g]

The Mini is capable of running in 64 bit mode but it comes out of the box in 32 bit mode. From all my researching of this topic OSX is unlike Windows in that it can run much more than 4GB of RAM in 32 bit mode. In fact it's not until you start using MASSIVE amounts of RAM (~32GB+) that running in 64 bit mode becomes useful. Even then you would have to be running 64 bit apps that would use that much RAM.

AFAIK the only Macs that natively boot into 64 bit mode are the Mac Pros, XServes and the Mini Server.

 

[bsamcash]

The Mini is capable of running in 64 bit mode but it comes out of the box in 32 bit mode. From all my researching of this topic OSX is unlike Windows in that it can run much more than 4GB of RAM in 32 bit mode. In fact it's not until you start using MASSIVE amounts of RAM (~32GB+) that running in 64 bit mode becomes useful. Even then you would have to be running 64 bit apps that would use that much RAM.

AFAIK the only Macs that natively boot into 64 bit mode are the Mac Pros, XServes and the Mini Server.

The new MacBook Pros boot 64 also.

 

[bearcatrp]

I put 8GB of ram the moment I purchased mine. Have owned a 2006 mini awhile back. Definitely a nice machine but the processor is out dated. Let's hope the next one is a 4 core with hyperthreading. As cool as SB processors run, am hoping for the 2600K SB but will take the 2500 SB processor. Don't think apple could build enough if they did.

 

[mdgm]

Definitely a nice machine but the processor is out dated. Let's hope the next one is a 4 core with hyperthreading. As cool as SB processors run, am hoping for the 2600K SB but will take the 2500 SB processor. Don't think apple could build enough if they did.

I doubt we'll get a quad-core in the 2011 Mini though that would be nice. It's more likely to happen with Ivy Bridge or the CPU architecture after that.

Even a dual-core Sandy Bridge would give a huge CPU performance boost over the 2010 Mini.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Definitely a nice machine but the processor is out dated. Let's hope the next one is a 4 core with hyperthreading. As cool as SB processors run, am hoping for the 2600K SB but will take the 2500 SB processor. Don't think apple could build enough if they did.

The mini is generally a MacBook with the screen ripped off, folded in half. The two of them are generally updated to have comparable specs. So, whatever they do to the MacBook at some point, look for basically the same in the mini. I'm betting on a dual Core i3, possibly with a dual Core i5 if they bring back an upper-end mini.